Colombia Club

[WyoDusty 0]

Hello everyone!

Well, our interview is coming up. July 29th is our date and we're very excited and a little nervous. We have followed things very well so far, and I think all of our paperwork is in order/ready to go. I'm an engineer by day, so attention to details is in my blood. hehe.

I'm just nervous that we're going to get there without a crucial item that we forget or something...Her medical appointments are this Friday, and she's been busy collecting her previous vaccination records and getting new ones. I have a full I-134, with print outs of my past W2s and Tax paperwork, as well as a signed letter on work stationary indicating my salary from my company. I'm also bringing my last 4-5 pay stubs. We have the DS-156 and DS-156K forms (I made four copies), and we have extras of her passport style photographs. She has all her DAS paperwork and she should be able to just pick up the one in Bogota (entry and exit Colombia) as she already filed for it, and paid for it. She is getting her baptism cert there in Bogota. She has her passport, and it's good for a long time. We have a nice collection of photographs, us in the US together, two separate times, with my family in many of them...my down in Colombia with her and her family, us together in California a couple different times etc. I have a long list of gmail emails and chats...around 725 of them. I'll print a few special ones, and then print pages showing the list of emails/chats. Plus I have a number of hand written letters etc, before she went to Colombia and the mail service no longer worked.

One thing I'm a little nervous about is her birth certificate. They list a very specific thing on the paperwork, (not the short form, has certain info and a copy of the folio). Well, she said all the info they are looking for is there...I asked about the folio part as I have no clue what that is. She said it has the folio number on it. Can anyone here please send me a picture of what exactly is needed? I promise I won't print/misuse your birth certificate...I just want something to send to her to see if it's what she has. Is it just a folio number? Or an actual document she needs?

She was never married, no arrests, no immigration issues and no military history so all those items are not needed.

Anything we're missing here?

I'm looking forward to a week in Bogota...never been there before. She has family and friends there, so we're staying with them and I'm gonna meet some of her extended family.

Good luck to everyone else still out there.

Ben

Ben,

It is good to be nervous but it sounds like your Fiance has everything in order. I don't have a copy of my wifes birth certificate but it is an actual document that lists her parents and birth place and it is stamped with a number from what I believe is the record book that it is kept in, and I believe they call this the Folio Number. I could be mistaken about the definition of the number there are far better experts on this site. But from what you wrote it sounds like everything is in order. I don't know everything that she will need for the K-1 Visa but I am sure that they are similar to the CR-1 Visa.

Some of these documents you may have already submitted and the Embassy may have them but it always help to take them with you to the Interview.

DS-230-I

DS-230-II

PASSPORT

BIRTH CERTIFICATE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT

MARRIAGE TERMINATION

FINANCIAL EVIDENCE

CUSTODY PAPERS

MILITARY RECORDS

COLOMBIA POLICE CERTIFICATE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT

PHOTOGRAPH

Then she also needs the letter from the DAS.

Dennis

[Juan Carlos 0]

First of all let me congratulate Andres and Diana for their VISA!!! Stories like yours remind me that thie process is not always straightforward, but has some twists and turns. In the end... there is hope!!

Now I'd like to get your opinion on one of those cryptic notices: I received two letters. One from the Juarez consulate (dated July 16th) clearly stating that my file has been transfered to the NVC "Contact NVC for any further questions". The second letter from the NVC (dated July 17th) saying:

"The NVC has sent a request to the Consulate listed below to transfer your case from their post. Any further inquiries should be directed to the Consulate where you wish your case to be processed.

Foreign State Chargeability: COLOMBIA

Consulate: Consulate General of the US, Visa Unit, El Paso, TX"

When I call the NVC, they say my case has been forwarded directly to Bogota. When I call the Juarez consulate, they say my case was sent to the NVC.

????? any opinions? Should I expect the NVC to generate a "BOG" number for me, or do you think I should start calling Bogota with my old CDJ number? Anyone wants to guess?

At least my case is moving. If I only knew where it is moving to...

Thanks, guys.

Juan Carlos.

[Diegohm 0]

Diana

Hello! I am in Barranquilla at this very moment. Um, long story short...I visited with Onelis´family, said our ¨Goodbyes¨, and I met with Onelis and her sister Estefanie here at the hotel. Onelis told me the reason that she had not tried to email me over the past month was because; Her ear infection, her eye infection, and being too ¨Preoccupied.¨ She then explained to me that she was ¨Afraid to leave her city, her country, etc. for the United States.¨ She said that she loved me, but that this was too much for her at this time of her life. She then, asked if I would call her so that we could, ¨Go out.¨ but, I declined because she just didn´t seem to be very sincere. This was painful, but it was much worse not hearing from someone for the past month - not knowing if they were alive or dead, etc.¨ So, today I ended my VisaJourney with Onelis. I wrote my lawyer explaining that he would need to withdrawl my visa petition, and ¨Thank you for your assistance to my case.¨

On the positive side, I went out with a nice, young lady here in town last night. She is single, much more of a serious person, intelligent, and possibly someone that might fit into my future. We are going to take things slowly, but I would love the opportunity to return to Barraquilla. I love this city, and this country. The people are the greatest. Sincere, warm, hospitable, and family-loving - just what I want to be surrounded with as I enter my middle-age period of my life (I turn 40 on the 28th..YIKES!). So, I hope to return, just with a different username and Costeña (of course!)

VIVA COLOMBIA!! VIVA BARRANQUILLA!! VIVA VISAJOURNEY!!!

I feel for you Ken. The same exact situation happened to me in July 2007. Earlier in 2007, I was dating two ladies when I decided to move forward with one and only to find out in the end that she could not cope with leaving her country. She was very gung ho in the beginning ofthe process when she backed out in July 2007.....thank god I was only up to NOA1 when I cancelled. At that time I decided to go back and rekindle the relationship with the other woman I had abandoned for failed fiance. It is at that time I realized that I should have gone with my initial gutfeeling because this woman is incredible. She is independent, patient and most of all mature and caring. Don't get discouraged it just a matter of finding that person that really wants to be with you and can't live apart from you and that has a really strong mental capacity to understand what is at stake.

As you can see I am right back where I started having started this journey since last year April. I am really excited about this Colombian Club and I am going to be looking for everyone advice through this maze of documents and process.

[Mononoke28 135]

Hello everyone!

Well, our interview is coming up. July 29th is our date and we're very excited and a little nervous. We have followed things very well so far, and I think all of our paperwork is in order/ready to go. I'm an engineer by day, so attention to details is in my blood. hehe.

I'm just nervous that we're going to get there without a crucial item that we forget or something...Her medical appointments are this Friday, and she's been busy collecting her previous vaccination records and getting new ones. I have a full I-134, with print outs of my past W2s and Tax paperwork, as well as a signed letter on work stationary indicating my salary from my company. I'm also bringing my last 4-5 pay stubs. We have the DS-156 and DS-156K forms (I made four copies), and we have extras of her passport style photographs. She has all her DAS paperwork and she should be able to just pick up the one in Bogota (entry and exit Colombia) as she already filed for it, and paid for it. She is getting her baptism cert there in Bogota. She has her passport, and it's good for a long time. We have a nice collection of photographs, us in the US together, two separate times, with my family in many of them...my down in Colombia with her and her family, us together in California a couple different times etc. I have a long list of gmail emails and chats...around 725 of them. I'll print a few special ones, and then print pages showing the list of emails/chats. Plus I have a number of hand written letters etc, before she went to Colombia and the mail service no longer worked.

One thing I'm a little nervous about is her birth certificate. They list a very specific thing on the paperwork, (not the short form, has certain info and a copy of the folio). Well, she said all the info they are looking for is there...I asked about the folio part as I have no clue what that is. She said it has the folio number on it. Can anyone here please send me a picture of what exactly is needed? I promise I won't print/misuse your birth certificate...I just want something to send to her to see if it's what she has. Is it just a folio number? Or an actual document she needs?

She was never married, no arrests, no immigration issues and no military history so all those items are not needed.

Anything we're missing here?

I'm looking forward to a week in Bogota...never been there before. She has family and friends there, so we're staying with them and I'm gonna meet some of her extended family.

Good luck to everyone else still out there.

Ben

Ben,

I've seen several birth certificates from Colombia and they all do not look alike, each notaría has its own design. As long as hers has her name, parents' names, date of birth, place of birth, she should be fine. The folio # is just the # of the big book they keep these records in. For some reason they still use hard copies for each person and so you just give them the folio number so they know exactly where the big book is located at the notaría.

Diana

[Mononoke28 135]

First of all let me congratulate Andres and Diana for their VISA!!! Stories like yours remind me that thie process is not always straightforward, but has some twists and turns. In the end... there is hope!!

Now I'd like to get your opinion on one of those cryptic notices: I received two letters. One from the Juarez consulate (dated July 16th) clearly stating that my file has been transfered to the NVC "Contact NVC for any further questions". The second letter from the NVC (dated July 17th) saying:

"The NVC has sent a request to the Consulate listed below to transfer your case from their post. Any further inquiries should be directed to the Consulate where you wish your case to be processed.

Foreign State Chargeability: COLOMBIA

Consulate: Consulate General of the US, Visa Unit, El Paso, TX"

When I call the NVC, they say my case has been forwarded directly to Bogota. When I call the Juarez consulate, they say my case was sent to the NVC.

????? any opinions? Should I expect the NVC to generate a "BOG" number for me, or do you think I should start calling Bogota with my old CDJ number? Anyone wants to guess?

At least my case is moving. If I only knew where it is moving to...

Thanks, guys.

Juan Carlos.

Juan Carlos,

I would call the US Embassy in Bogotá to find out if they received your case already and if they will accept it with a CDJ case #. Once the NVC sends the case to the embassy, it takes no more than 3 business days, so if they did send it the embassy should have it by now.

Diana

[B&E 0]

Thanks everyone. I'm feeling better about her birth certificate. It has all that info...so we are good to go now.

[Juan Carlos 0]

Diana, as always, thanks a lot for your input.

I called Bogota, and at first the laidy told me they had to receive my case with a BGT number, but then she hesitated about my case having a CDJ number. She checked in her system and they haven't received my case.

Called NVC again and they haven't received my file either.

In other words, my file is in the limbo, at least for now. I'll take another deep breath and do the only thing I can do for now: wait. I guess I'll give it until the end of August. If my file doesn't show up somewhere, I guess I'll move forward with my IR1.

Till next Wednesday...

Juan Carlos.

[jimmynuetron 0]

Hello, My interview is coming up in August as well. Trying to find out if you really need the batismal certificate or what to do if you cannot get it due to location of birth. Does anyone kow if a reasonable hotel close to the embassy in Bogota. When I used to go to Bogota i would stay in the casa dann carlton but thats far from the embassy and also higher end then what we need for this trip.

Good luck guys

[EZO 0]

Hello Everyone, this is my first post here in the colombia club. I just found out that the embassy in Bogota received our paperwork yesterday and is in the system. so my question is, can i go ahead and fax the paperwork to them before my wife actually receives Packet 3? If so, are they still "DS-2001, DS-230 Part I, a copy of your beneficiary's passport (just the biographical page)" or has anything changed? I dont know if i need a cover letter? I just want to make sure faxing is still an option.

thanks

[Mononoke28 135]

Diana, as always, thanks a lot for your input.

I called Bogota, and at first the laidy told me they had to receive my case with a BGT number, but then she hesitated about my case having a CDJ number. She checked in her system and they haven't received my case.

Called NVC again and they haven't received my file either.

In other words, my file is in the limbo, at least for now. I'll take another deep breath and do the only thing I can do for now: wait. I guess I'll give it until the end of August. If my file doesn't show up somewhere, I guess I'll move forward with my IR1.

Till next Wednesday...

Juan Carlos.

Ay Juanca, que vaina.

You know what, I'd keep calling them at least once a week until someone tells you where the case is at. Because even if you decide to go for the IR1 visa, the case has to be located, right?

Diana

[Mononoke28 135]

Hello, My interview is coming up in August as well. Trying to find out if you really need the batismal certificate or what to do if you cannot get it due to location of birth. Does anyone kow if a reasonable hotel close to the embassy in Bogota. When I used to go to Bogota i would stay in the casa dann carlton but thats far from the embassy and also higher end then what we need for this trip.

Good luck guys

Steven,

I replied to your PM this morning. But yes to the baptismal certificate and gave you a link of the place we stayed at in Bogotá the week of my husband's interview. Very nice place. www.welovebogota.com

Diana

[Mononoke28 135]

Hello Everyone, this is my first post here in the colombia club. I just found out that the embassy in Bogota received our paperwork yesterday and is in the system. so my question is, can i go ahead and fax the paperwork to them before my wife actually receives Packet 3? If so, are they still "DS-2001, DS-230 Part I, a copy of your beneficiary's passport (just the biographical page)" or has anything changed? I dont know if i need a cover letter? I just want to make sure faxing is still an option.

thanks

Here's the link from the embassy listing what she will need in packet 3 http://bogota.usembassy.gov/appt-package.html. What I read in the Colombian K1 thread is that many people sent it via e-mail with attachments and it was a lot faster than either faxing it or mailing it. They also received their interview appointments faster as well.

Diana

[Ken y Leidys 20]

I feel for you Ken. The same exact situation happened to me in July 2007. Earlier in 2007, I was dating two ladies when I decided to move forward with one and only to find out in the end that she could not cope with leaving her country. She was very gung ho in the beginning ofthe process when she backed out in July 2007.....thank god I was only up to NOA1 when I cancelled. At that time I decided to go back and rekindle the relationship with the other woman I had abandoned for failed fiance. It is at that time I realized that I should have gone with my initial gutfeeling because this woman is incredible. She is independent, patient and most of all mature and caring. Don't get discouraged it just a matter of finding that person that really wants to be with you and can't live apart from you and that has a really strong mental capacity to understand what is at stake.

The good thing is learning by so many people that I am not alone. I love Barranquilla, the country of Colombia, and it is a place I want to return again and again. I want a future there, I love practicing my Spanish, so its natural for me to focus on meeting a woman there. Luckily, while I was there, I met a really nice "soltera" and I plan on going back in December for 2-3 weeks. It felt a tad immediate, but now that I am home and we are able to talk and not feel rushed because of my travel itinerary, things are unfolding slowly - slow is better.

So, I'll be lurking and in early January, I'll let everyone here know the outcome.

[Mononoke28 135]

Hey guys, I found this in another forum in case any one is interested. The candidate needs to live in NY, speak English and have at least EAD.

Work in NY

Diana

[Andres and Diana 0]

Just wanted you all to know....Andres is FINALLY home!!! YAY!!!

POE was kinda a challenge...they left him in immigration for about 3 hours but they finally let him through.

We had a great weekend and saw Marc Anthony on Saturday night....Its sooo good to have him here! I'll be seeing you guys around on the AOS Side!

Lots of love!

Diana B